Where can you buy baby turtles?

Baby turtles are adorable and make wonderful pets, but would you know the best way to feed one? Those pellets at the pet store might be convenient, but what's actually in them. Now's your chance to find out what baby turtles eat and how to supplement traditional turtle meal for optimal health.

Turtles in Nature

A turtle can encounter many food sources while roaming in the wild from deep swimming holes to shaded land, and they often do. Land turtles might swim in ponds or bogs where they'll find completely different types of food than when spending a day in the field. Since turtles are omnivores, the best-replicated turtle diet is of lean raw meat, grasses and greens, and the occasional fruit.

The building block of your baby turtle's diet is the pellet or gel capsule supplement, which is a snap to find in any pet store that sells turtle suppies. There are two caveats, however: you should examine each label to make sure that your pet turtle is getting the best diet possible, and you should select a formula that's been approved for your particular shelled pet. For example, a box turtle is more interested in a true omnivorous diet than a water turtle which needs more raw meat as a baby, but will show interest in herbivorous or lightly omnivorous diets as an adult.

Crude protein not less than 40%

Crude fat not less than 10%

Crude fiber not more than 5%

Ash not more than 9%

Vitamin E not less than 160 IU/lb

When examining the actual ingredients of a turtle pellet food, you'll find the following types of ingredients:

Fish meal

Corn

Poultry

Fish oil

Meat meal

Porcine meat meal

Brewer's yeast

Vitamin C

Vitamin A

Vitamin E

Salt

Zinc oxide

Zinc sulfate

Healthy Additions for a Baby Turtle's Diet

You can feed your little pet pellets, but a varied diet is ideal and will help any turtle live a longer and happier life. Consider these inclusions in a growing turtle's diet, and you will find that your turtle grows faster, seems more alert, and has less trouble with mood regulation. Maybe that baby turtle of yours will even perk up when it sees you enter the room!

Suggested live foods include:

Earthworms

Slugs

Snails

Beetles

Grasshoppers

Crayfish

If you're wondering how to obtain any of these insects for your turtle, you simply need to ask at the pet stores for live feed for reptiles. They should have a selection of mealworms, crickets and beetles that you can buy for your pet, and then all you need to do is bring them home and ration them out for your pet turtle. You might also hear of the practice of feeding baby "pinky mice" to a young turtle. A pinky mouse is a baby mouse that has not grown fur or opened its eyes yet. The feeding of pinky mice is extremely controversial, and your turtle can feast happily on non-mammal prey as listed above.

How to Feed a Baby Turtle

When feeding your baby turtle pellet food, you should plan on feeding it once a day. Sprinkle pellet food on the top of the water, and feed only as much as your turtle will eat in 15-20 minutes. Any additional foods can be served in a small dish or on top of a rock, and it should be shredded small so it's easier to eat.

Source: small-pets.lovetoknow.com

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